Idaho Fall Airport temporarily cutting budget due to pandemic

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI/KIDK) - COVID-19 had a significant impact on the aviation industry.

Idaho Falls Regional Airport Director Rick Cloutier says about 90% of the airport's revenue comes from passengers. The lack of travelers due to the pandemic has created a loss of revenue for our local airport.

Airport administration needed to take this loss into consideration in planning their budget. Cloutier says they’ve cut about $750,000 in spending from last year’s budget.

He says they’ve lost about 25% of passengers compared to this time last year. The industry doesn’t expect those numbers to recover in the near future.

IFRA has had to adjust to what the market is giving them by cutting services, hours and three staff members.

Cloutier says usually, this time of year, IFRA sees about 14 to 15 departures per day. Now they are seeing an average of six flights per day.

“People just aren’t ready to fly yet and we understand that,” Cloutier said.

Cloutier says with the budget cuts, the airport’s aim is to have as minimal impact on their customers as possible.

“Obviously, we’re not going to have as many things open,” Cloutier said, “We’re going to have less people to do snow removal and things like that so things could be slower and flights could be a little more delayed in the future. Especially this winter.”

Once people start flying again and revenue returns to the airport, Cloutier plans to bring laid off staff and cut services back to the airport.

“We’re going to be doing the best we can to maintain our operations and get ready for the future,” Cloutier said.

Due to a grant from the Federal Aviation Administration, the airport will be adding three gates to their terminals, bringing the total number of gates to six.